What are your favorite ACTs?!

[MistaRasta]

In order to brew up a really good tea IMONutrient teas cannot provide all your plants need at once like compost based teas can.

This is not true.

Alfalfa- nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, magnesium, trace minerals, growth hormones etc..

Kelp- nitrogen, potassium, EVERY trace mineral, growth regulators, cytokins, metabolites etc..

These two amendments give me EVERYTHING I need and more..
These two together also give me more benefit than my vermi teas do for sure. It's about establishing a population from the beginning and keeping it around, not dumping more and more populations on top..

Not saying compost teas don't do anything, I just think they're good for a fix or if your pot dried out or something.

I like top dressing my vermicompost and giving an alfalfa/kelp tea. Or you can just pre amend your compost so it's ready to go. I noticed when I pre amend my compost it smells really sweet and attracts a lot of gnats. Good sign of fungal growth

 

[ShLUbY]

i hear worms love fresh compost....

 

[ShLUbY]

Soil... a regurgitation of something i wrote in another thread

5 basic functions of soil:
-medium for plant growth (anchor point)
-system for water purification
-habitat for organisms
-modifier for the atmosphere (carbon cycle/hydrologic cycle/nitrogen cycle)
-recycling system (composting)
a 6th function is of engineering standpoint for foundation. but that's a whole nother perspective.
geologists and archeologists have their own definitions having more to do with the parent material/rocks and minerals.

definition of soil from my understanding of the soil management class: having the ability to retain water, and provide for the growth and habitat of plants and organisms. soil is alive!

dirt = the stuff you sweep up off of your floors in your house.

highly organic soil is anything with more than 25% OM. anything less is considered a mineral soil. but again that is for a natural soil, weathered parent material.

the more you break it down, the more technical you can get.

 

[bankcee]

This is not true.

Alfalfa- nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, magnesium, trace minerals, growth hormones etc..

Kelp- nitrogen, potassium, EVERY trace mineral, growth regulators, cytokins, metabolites etc..

These two amendments give me EVERYTHING I need and more..
These two together also give me more benefit than my vermi teas do for sure. It's about establishing a population from the beginning and keeping it around, not dumping more and more populations on top..

Not saying compost teas don't do anything, I just think they're good for a fix or if your pot dried out or something.

I like top dressing my vermicompost and giving an alfalfa/kelp tea. Or you can just pre amend your compost so it's ready to go. I noticed when I pre amend my compost it smells really sweet and attracts a lot of gnats. Good sign of fungal growth

how do you make your alfalfa kelp tea? and what phase do you use this tea in? veg or flower?

 

[MistaRasta]

how do you make your alfalfa kelp tea? and what phase do you use this tea in? veg or flower?

I use this tea in early veg all the way up to the 4th week of flower.
Don't look at in phases. Veg/flower, bacterial/ fungal doesn't matter when dealing with true Organics. You want an all around tea that's going to give your soil AND your plant everything it needs.

Since implementing this tea a number of years ago, EVERY one of my strains develops bud and resin faster, clones better, and branches stronger.

Use this tea once a week and you'll see a notable difference right away.

To 5 gallons of water add:
1/4 cup kelp
1/8 cup alfalfa

Brew for 18-24 hours

Warning though, alfalfa is really hot stuff and can mess your harvest up if not careful. Implement in at smaller ratios and build up from there. A lot of people use more alfalfa than this, but I can't ever see my self using more than 1/8 cup. I get my alfalfa from a distributor out of Oregon (feed grade) and its some GOOD stuff. Reall really hot, i burnt up my whole garden once using a 1/2 cup to 5 gallons. It was pretty bad, I didn't know how strong it was then.

 

[Richard Drysift]

This is not true.

Alfalfa- nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, magnesium, trace minerals, growth hormones etc..

Kelp- nitrogen, potassium, EVERY trace mineral, growth regulators, cytokins, metabolites etc..

These two amendments give me EVERYTHING I need and more..
These two together also give me more benefit than my vermi teas do for sure. It's about establishing a population from the beginning and keeping it around, not dumping more and more populations on top..

Not saying compost teas don't do anything, I just think they're good for a fix or if your pot dried out or something.

I like top dressing my vermicompost and giving an alfalfa/kelp tea. Or you can just pre amend your compost so it's ready to go. I noticed when I pre amend my compost it smells really sweet and attracts a lot of gnats. Good sign of fungal growth

Fair enough

 

[bankcee]

yeah you can use that. sounds like a similar product to boogie brew. don't forget to add the molasses! TBSP per gallon of h2o and make sure you dissolve it in a couple cups of water before you dump it in your bucket, just easier that way. if you have a good compost resource (someone you know maybe?), you can use that to brew microbe tea as well.

something else you can get is fish hydrolysate, just make sure it's from a reputable company like neptune or something. remember aloe and kelp both ease stress on plants, are low in NPKs and high in micronutes/vitamins/minerals.

@ShLUbY so if I have a 3 gallon brewer I would do 3 tablespoons of molasses and how much ewc cause one of my homie came through with some wiggle worm castings.

 

[greasemonkeymann]

I use this tea in early veg all the way up to the 4th week of flower.
Don't look at in phases. Veg/flower, bacterial/ fungal doesn't matter when dealing with true Organics. You want an all around tea that's going to give your soil AND your plant everything it needs.

Since implementing this tea a number of years ago, EVERY one of my strains develops bud and resin faster, clones better, and branches stronger.

Use this tea once a week and you'll see a notable difference right away.

To 5 gallons of water add:
1/4 cup kelp
1/8 cup alfalfa

Brew for 18-24 hours

Warning though, alfalfa is really hot stuff and can mess your harvest up if not careful. Implement in at smaller ratios and build up from there. A lot of people use more alfalfa than this, but I can't ever see my self using more than 1/8 cup. I get my alfalfa from a distributor out of Oregon (feed grade) and its some GOOD stuff. Reall really hot, i burnt up my whole garden once using a 1/2 cup to 5 gallons. It was pretty bad, I didn't know how strong it was then.

that's weird.. I use a TON of alfalfa in my compost, and it does nothing but great things..
wondering why just a half cup was too much?
I mean, I'm serious man, I used probably about 3 CUBIC feet of fresh alfalfa...
(it was in the winter, so I couldn't find grass clippings foor my greens, used fresh alfalfa)

 

[MistaRasta]

that's weird.. I use a TON of alfalfa in my compost, and it does nothing but great things..
wondering why just a half cup was too much?
I mean, I'm serious man, I used probably about 3 CUBIC feet of fresh alfalfa...
(it was in the winter, so I couldn't find grass clippings foor my greens, used fresh alfalfa)

Fwiw I used to use the "GrowMore" alfalfa brand and was easily able to add a cup per 5 no problem. I buy this new stuff at the feed store one day and it's day and night difference. I implement alfalfa into my soil as well as my compost, it's definitely nice, but I'm growing quite fond of neem as a replacement for alfalfa tbh

 

[ShLUbY]

@ShLUbY so if I have a 3 gallon brewer I would do 3 tablespoons of molasses and how much ewc cause one of my homie came through with some wiggle worm castings.

yeah tbsp per gal. 1/2-3/4cup is fine. generally 1cup per 5 gal bucket. so adjust accordingly.

 

[greasemonkeymann]

Fwiw I used to use the "GrowMore" alfalfa brand and was easily able to add a cup per 5 no problem. I buy this new stuff at the feed store one day and it's day and night difference. I implement alfalfa into my soil as well as my compost, it's definitely nice, but I'm growing quite fond of neem as a replacement for alfalfa tbh

hmmm, was the alfalfa "soaked" in molasses?
Or treated with anything?
that's weird man..
I bough a whole friggin bale of it at the feed store, and went to town..
I did de-stem it though...
reminded me of buying mexi-brickweed as a kid

 

[greasemonkeymann]

@ShLUbY so if I have a 3 gallon brewer I would do 3 tablespoons of molasses and how much ewc cause one of my homie came through with some wiggle worm castings.

approximately a cup and a half of castings will do the trick, it's not too scientific though, a lil more or a lil less isn't going to hurt anything.
Just don't add anything else.
brew for 48 hrs, depending on your ambient temps

 

[bankcee]

yeah tbsp per gal. 1/2-3/4cup is fine. generally 1cup per 5 gal bucket. so adjust accordingly.

approximately a cup and a half of castings will do the trick, it's not too scientific though, a lil more or a lil less isn't going to hurt anything.
Just don't add anything else.
brew for 48 hrs, depending on your ambient temps

k one last question do I just throw the castings in the bucket like that or in some kind of drain bag?

 

[ShLUbY]

i just throw em in and stir every so often. i strain at the end with a kitchen mesh strainer.

 

[bankcee]

i just throw em in and stir every so often. i strain at the end with a kitchen mesh strainer.

it won't mess up the bubbler at the bottom.

 

[ShLUbY]

it won't mess up the bubbler at the bottom.

oh i never used a brewer. i just use air stones. so i'm not sure. you can use pantyhose i think. or get a burlap sack or some cheesecloth or something.

 

[bankcee]

oh i never used a brewer. i just use air stones. so i'm not sure. you can use pantyhose i think. or get a burlap sack or some cheesecloth or something.

I'm gonna buy some tomorrow at work. I threw it in there so I hope it doesn't mess it up. lol I'm gonna pull it out and just use the stones as well.

 

[bankcee]

@ShLUbY should I dilute this mix? 1:1? or no just straight into the pots?

 

[ShLUbY]

right in man

 

[bankcee]

right in man

so I just watered them or fed them or both? lol just watered in the tea. so like when will I notice if my soil still has food in there.. or if I'm really defecient? cause my N def is getting worse.